Numbers

Question 1

Plot summary for Numbers

Answer 1

Jeanette has nightmares about marriage​

Jeanette questions heterosexual relationships and men in particular – a growing distrust of men​

Louie’s cautionary tale about love vs a stomach ulcer​

J meets Melanie​

They consummate their relationship​

Question 2

Metanarrative for Numbers

Answer 2

Allegorical tale ends the chapter – warns that the safety the two girls might feel might soon be threatened. Refers to an historical event – the 1917 storming of the Winter Palace during Russian Revolution and the overthrow of an old, aristocratic order. ​

The setting of the banquet of the elect (meta-narrative) contrasts the setting of the Harvest Festival banquet for the church congregation.​

‘Father. Son. Father. Son’ – repetition here represents the cyclical patterns of life and death and the ongoing perpetuation of patriarchal power through male inheritance in the secular world.

Question 3

Contextual notes for Numbers

Answer 3

AIDs epidemic in time of production – Winterson writing at a time of enormous fear of homosexuality – see the language of disease​

​

Question 4

Poems linked to Numbers

Answer 4

White Writing
The Laughter of Stafford Girls High

Question 5

Links to the Bible story in Numbers

Answer 5

Fourth book of the OT; wandering of the Israelites through the desert to the Promised Land; Moses appears as a Prophet. Is Melanie her ‘Promised Land’ - links to Moses is foreshadowing the next chapter

Question 6

Key quotes for Numbers